Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. (I Cor 13:4-7)
The frui
t of the spirit is love….. (Gal 5:22)
The Lord’s kind of love is a seemingly impossible task. No one in themselves is able to sustain this love. I would like to say that this is the way that I love, but that would be a misrepresentation of the truth. My goal is to strive towards it.
Love is like a target. We shoot our arrows and attempt to hit the bull’s eye – God’s perfect love. The archer continually practices until he is able to strike the center each time. It requires both a strong arm to pull the bowstring and a steady hand to keep the arrow directed towards the center ring.
I believe that the Lord wants us to daily practice walking in love. Just like the archer we need the determination to always persevere. Some days seem effortless when it is so easy to “love.” Other days it is like shooting arrows in the middle of a hurricane. The winds and rain drench the archer, and the target itself sways from the strong winds. Then, just when you think you are making good progress, loving like the Lord, the “derecho” comes and annihilates the entire target!
The incredible news is that when the target has been damaged or destroyed, the Lord Himself helps to reassemble it. He renews our strength so we can once again pull the bowstring and take steady aim. Even so, the question still remains – are we willing to lay down self and allow the Lord’s kind of love to envelope our life?
~ Marianne
Crossroad Junction 
Beloved Marianne,
Just this morning two targets of love were so swaying in the storm that my feeble arrows went nowhere. Now here is your post with His perfect comfort for me! Thank you! Praise Him!
John
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Great post Marianne! I love the target analogy, I haven’t seen it put like that before.
This is getting a mention from me on G+ for sure. 🙂
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Short and well written.Thank you.
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Amen, Marianne! Very timely for me. Been thru a recent spell where all the “love” drained out of me and I found myself back in my default zone of anger & despair. The love of Ist Cor 13 is quite humanly impossible, but we should at least keep trying–and I’d given up even trying to hit the bullseye. But as ever grace intervened. Part of this was seeing “Les Miz” and that plus some powerful dreams from the Holy Spirit caused hope & love to be reborn. The one point I disagree with is that we can intentionally put self aside to allow love to be reborn. Well, perhaps some can. I cant even do that without God’s help. If it werent for grace I’d wallow in anger & despair forever.
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So right, Marianne. The question of our willingness to lay our own flesh down and let the true love of God be our all in all is absolutely imperative. If we do not make the choice to truly allow Jesus to be Lord in our life and operated it the true love of God laid out in 1 Corinthians 13 then your analogy of “…like shooting arrows in the middle of a hurricane.” becomes the crisis we face every time our “circumstance” is not perfect and we do miss the calling on us. Great word, thank you!
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Hi Marianne:)
all I can say is ,,,,wow,,,,You have certainly hit right on ,,,target,,,,:) all so very True,,,,without HIM we would not be able to love unconditionally and have the strength to mend and heal our relationships from moment to moment,,,day to day etc,,,,,Thank You so much for sharing,,,,I Love your Blogs,,,They are so encouraging and full of truth, integrity,and the LORD’S ,,,character,,,,Blessings and please keep them coming,,,,I look forward to reading what you and Jim post,,,:):):)
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I have a different picture come to mind, not just practicing but the hand of the Lord coming along and helping to pull the bow string and aim the arrow towards the goal of His perfect love in the bulls eye.
keep on writing Marianne.
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Kathy, I love your picture. It is the Father wrapping His arms around His child and teaching him how to pull the bow and aim. Without the Father’s help we can do nothing.
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Wonderful message that all of us need to meditate on! Reminds me of when hubby (your father in law) was flying his plane between Iceland and Newfoundland in weather that was too bad to land. God would open up a hole just large enough for him to see the runway and be able to land safely. So He sometimes calms the storm long enough for us to see the target and shoot the arrow into the bull’s eye. The joy of that victory can wipe out even the memory of the storm.
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as always clear and to the point, We should always strive and continue our walk with the Lord.
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